CARLA CARLI MAZZUCATO: ON LIFE'S JOURNEY
by Gareth Hughes
Head of Art and Design, Presentation College, London
Whilst Mazzucato's work certainly belongs to the 1990's, her art owes a debt to earlier European painters of the century. Her own description of being a “storyteller” links in very strongly with the Russian-born Marc Chagall. In Chagall's work, one witnesses some of the most colourful and magical art; informing us of his childhood memories. As with Chagall, Mazzucato has developed a very personalized colour sense. The painting “Fields in Minsk” implies a firm connection between Mazzucato and Chagall.
Mazzucato
classic art — contemporary vision
Art Critique - Mazzucato: New Horizons (published U.S.A.) - 1994
Underlying the considerations of style, the subject matter always returns to man's relation with the world around him. The impermanence of time lies deeply behind the work but is balanced by the sure knowledge of regeneration. We can witness the same sort of peaceful realisation in the “Peasant” Brueghel's work. It is in nature that we find all that is positive in the world. It is man's folly to destroy it.
The subject is obviously derived from the Russian's homeland and the colour selection is strikingly similar. The atmosphere present in the composition is not easy to achieve, attention is fixed to the “whole” whilst there are enough details captured in what seems a fleeting moment.
It should be noted that Mazzucato's compositions rely primarily on her own first hand experiences, thus making her a true story-teller. There is a diverse approach to the brushwork, the trees of Minsk being painted with a strong sense of structure against the swirl of the background. The people and the land become indivisible. The wine glasses on the quickly rendered table indicate a literal celebration, just as the theme of the painting itself is a celebration of nature. The claret colour is painted on the majority of the figures who have evidently drunk much of the wine.
One could easily attribute the title of the painting “The Yellow Farm” to the Impressionist movement. Just as the the images in Mazzucato's work often harken back to works by Monet and Renoir, “The Yellow Farm” could just as easily be a subject for a Van Gogh composition. Yellow symbolised hope for Van Gogh, and there is a more joyful atmosphere to Mazzucato's work. There is an expressionist feel that indicates the artist belonging more to the current Zeitgeist of figurative painters.
Fields in Minsk
The Yellow Farm
